Belgium was again plunged into political crisis over the weekend as French-speaking Socialist leader Elio Di Rupo resigned from his mediator role as prime-minister-in-waiting. Leading politicians are now openly talking about the prospect of breaking up the country.

King Albert II accepted Di Rupo’s resignation and nominated one representative of each linguistic community – the Francophone speaker of the lower house of parliament, Andre Flahaut of the Socialist Party, and the speaker of the Senate, Danny Pieters of the Flemish separatist party N-VA – to lead mediation efforts to restart coalition talks.

Bart De Wever, leader of the Flemish separatist N-VA party, who emerged as the largest political force in Flanders after general elections in June, said there was not enough agreement on key issues.

The future of the Belgian capital Brussels, which plays host to the EU institutions, appears to be one of the main stumbling blocks standing in the way of forming a new government.

Belgium currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU.

To read this story in full, please click here. If you would like to leave a comment, please use the box below.